Is Conte setting up Tavecchio...again?




Italian national team coach Antonio Conte is reportedly furious about the lack of time that he will have at the end of 2015-16 to prepare the azzurri for the upcoming Euros.



Serie A is slated to end on May 22, 2016 which is a week after the Bundesliga and La Liga, and two weeks after the English Premier League.



This only exacerbates the friction between clubs and the national team that’s brewing as a result of the proposed minicamps the first of which is to take place a week prior to the resumption of UEFA club competitions.



FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio supports Conte on the minicamps but has amended his position stating that it will be up to the clubs to allow their players to attend the minicamps since the clubs are not obliged to lend their players to the national team because the minicamps are outside the dates imposed by FIFA for national team activity.



One can empathize with Conte’s position, which might go something like: “I have a group that is in an embryonic stage, the minicamps may turn into a moot venture with Juve, Inter, Torino, Fiorentina, Napoli and Roma’s players out; and now I have a week less than everyone else to put the final technical and tactical touches on my team?” Needless to say, his predecessors had about the same time as his colleagues to prepare the national team with poor results as of late.



There is, however, one cynical aspect: the last time Conte had an outburst (he stated “no one’s behind me”, after the friendly against Albania) was right before Tavecchio and the FIGC council introduced a series of measures aimed to help the development of Italian players. Are we witnessing another set up?



What is Conte setting up for? Another round of reforms, perhaps. It is no secret that Tavecchio and his supporters are pushing for a contraction in the number of teams participating in Serie A. A reduction to an 18-team Serie A would help Conte because it would cut the rounds to 36 from 38 and end the league early, as well as helping Tavecchio & Co. get the reform they want.



Far fetched? Let me ask you then why is it that Serie A is slated to end a week later than other leagues this time around, when in prior seasons that preceded major international tournaments this wasn’t the case? 

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